Sticks and Stones
by iPods-and-Tea
Summary: Zuko gets into a fight with his daughter about a boy. One-shot. Yes, the title is crappy.


**_Author's Note_**: I wrote a bunch of one-shot drabbles about Zuko's daughter with zero intent of publishing it, but seeing as it is Fathers' Day I figured why not. Since we don't know her name yet, I'm just going to pretend her name is Ursa because that's what I'm placing my bets on her name being. Sorry, Honora, I don't think that's actually going to be her name. :P I'm going to be mocked incessantly if/when my friends get a hold of this thing. I'm not really a fluffy person, so me writing fluff is like hush-hush and my guilty pleasure. I wrote a pokeshipping fluffy one-shot and was mocked pretty badly for it, even if my friends did somewhat enjoy it at least (I hope and think anyway). Anyhoo, please give me some sort of feedback and thanks so much for reading and please enjoy! (:

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"Shut up!" she yelled back at him.

"Ursa, please, just listen to me," He stated, trying his best to restrain his anger.

"You're overreacting, you overreact to _everything_! You're ridiculous! None of my friend's dads are this high-strung!" Ursa yelled accusatively to her father.

"You went out behind our backs and took a ferry to Republic City without asking permission, or even letting anyone know! How am I _supposed to react_?" Zuko began to raise his voice. He always tried to hold onto his composure with his daughter, but his temperamental nature sometimes got the better of him.

"Ugh! When you were my age you were on a boat all by yourself _all the time_!" Ursa rebutted and Zuko took a deep breath, trying not to lash out at the entirely different situation.

"…Ursa, you know that that was so different. How you could even bring that up as a defense? I'm sorry that you have a father who actually cares about you," Zuko grunted.

"Yeah right! If you cared about me, you'd let me go see my boyfriend in Republic City!" Ursa screamed.

"You never asked me! You never asked your mother either! You just took off and-wait….boyfriend! You-" Zuko began, but was cut off.

"I couldn't ask you! You hate Bumi!" Ursa shouted.

"What are you talking about? I care about him as my own, he's one of my best friend's son! Plus, you're too young for running around with a boyfriend! I like Bumi very much, maybe when you're older I'll let you go out with him," Zuko stated.

"UGH!" Ursa shouted in frustration, "Mom was dating you at my age!"

"Ursa, please-" Zuko began.

"No! Dad, _please_! Fire Lord Zuko, _please_! You did all this stuff _younger_ than me, but won't let me! You got to see the world! You _saved_ the world! Where's my adventure?" Ursa yelled.

"_Adventure_? You don't know how lucky you are that you don't have to go on those _little adventures_." Zuko said coldly.

"Ugh, poor you, and your poor childhood, I've heard it a billion times, it's always a pity-party sob story with you!" Ursa shouted accusatively and Zuko took in a deep breath.

"You're going to have to be punished," Zuko stated with a jaded sigh.

"What! I didn't even _do anything_! What the heck is your problem?" Ursa protested.

"Ursa! I don't know what to do with you! Sometimes I swear your temper is worse than mine, but I can only blame myself for passing down that trait!" Zuko stated.

"Mom would understand me, she's not as insanely overprotective as you are!" Ursa stormed on.

"Your mother doesn't want you sneaking around with a boy in the middle of the night in another country as much as I don't," Zuko stated. "Now, you're going to have to be punished, I can't have you putting yourself in so much danger, you're too young to-" Zuko began.

"No, Dad, shut up! I'm _not_ too young! You just want to hold onto your little girl forever, when I'm not even little anymore, I'm _fifteen_! I can't take you anymore! You always think that I'm going to be assassinated or something!" Ursa shouted.

"You know there have been numerous attempts on you and your mother's life!" Zuko yelled.

"_And __**you**_, but _you_ go all over the place _all the time_!" Ursa countered.

"I _have_ to! I'm the _Fire Lord_, I can't neglect my duties, I can't believe that I'm even arguing with you about this. I don't want you to get hurt, Ursa, I couldn't live with myself," Zuko stated.

"I can't live with you already! You're nuts! You're so paranoid; I can't take it! Just-just shut up and leave me alone, I'm sick of this! Retire already, I hate you!" Ursa shouted emotionally as she stormed off. The words cut into Zuko like a knife. Typically he would disregard his daughter's rude comments when they'd get into arguments, and he'd chastise her for speaking that way to her parents. But this was different, it hurt. He didn't chase after her to yell at her this time; he just let her go to her room in angered silence. He felt just awful, and stared despondently at the ground in failure. Unbeknownst to neither her husband nor daughter, Mai was eavesdropping in the corner on the entire circumstance. Mai snuck up behind her husband and wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulder.

"Hey, she didn't mean it, Zuko," Mai said in a soft tone.

"I think she did," Zuko whispered.

"No, she loves you, Zuko, I know she does. You're being ridiculous. Not to rub it in, but this is pretty common for teenagers, not that you'd know in your childhood household…" Mai said.

"I never hear Aang talking about this much melodrama with Kya," Zuko sighed, "and Toph's never said anything this dramatic as Lin."

"They don't have your genes in them," Mai teased, Zuko smirked a little.

"You'd better go see her, she's really upset for some reason. I know it's me that's upsetting her, but that should be nothing new," Zuko stated.

"Okay, I will. Don't worry, Zuko, it's gonna be fine, this will be gone and forgotten in a week at most. Calm down, okay?" Mai said in assurance as she gave him a quick peck and went off to her daughter's room. Despite his wife's reassurance, Zuko still felt incredibly heavyhearted. He felt as if he'd failed his little girl. She hates him, he hated his father; his worst nightmare was a reality to a degree. He'd become the same kind of father his father was: a bad one.

Mai went over to her daughter's bedroom and knocked on the door cautiously.

"Get away from me, Dad!" Ursa shouted as you could hear a pillow slam against the door that she'd thrown. Mai sighed.

"It's not Daddy, it's me," Mai stated tiredly. Ursa regrettably walked to the door and opened it, quickly turning her back to her mother, pouting.

"What?" Ursa grunted curtly.

"I want to know what happened out there?" Mai asked as she sat down on her daughter's bed.

"Dad's insane," Ursa stated.

"Your father isn't insane, Ursa," Mai stated calmly.

"He's so overprotective, he doesn't let me do a thing! He did everything when he was my age!" Ursa grumbled.

"Your father is scared out of his mind for you. In essence, he's afraid of you," Mai sighed.

"What?" Ursa said, confounded.

"Since the day you were born, he's been totally horrified of you. It took me a month to get me to talk him into holding you," Mai laughed.

"See, he hates me, I knew it! Ever since the day I was born!" Ursa shouted.

"Your father loves you very, very much, Ursa, more than I think you know. He was afraid to hold you; he is terrified of messing you up. He's afraid of messing up the thing that he loves more than anything in the world," Mai stated.

"That makes no sense!" Ursa pouted as she slung her hand on her hip.

"Do you really have no idea how completely dysfunctional your father's family was?" Mai said in disbelief. "I thought you'd have an idea by now."

"I know, I know, _worst childhood ever_…" Ursa rolled her eyes.

"It's not an exaggeration," Mai confirmed.

"Could you imagine if your father challenged you to an agni kai when you were thirteen, then burnt your face publically, and banished you? When all you tried to do was prove your love to him? His mother was gone, your namesake, the only person who loved him at that time-gone. If your father didn't have Grandpa, his Uncle Iroh, I don't know if he'd be alive today," Mai explained.

"That has nothing to do with me!" Ursa demanded.

"Your biological grandfather had a daughter too, you know? Your Aunt Azula? Your grandfather drove her into a descent of madness, he corrupted her mind, and you, you're the spitting image of her. She used to be one of my best friends, I would know," Mai stated. "Now, don't you think this might scare him a little bit? Looking at you, seeing his clinically insane sister in you? He's afraid, Ursa. He doesn't want to be like his father, he's petrified that he's going to screw up, ruin your life, and drive you into a descent of madness. And what do you confirm to him? That he ruined your life."

"…Mom…I-I…" Ursa muttered. She hadn't ever truly understood all her father had been through. He didn't like talking about it, he felt like he was moping too much and Mai didn't like discussing it either for Zuko's pride's sake. A tear slid down Ursa's face.

"I know you don't think so, but he loves you Ursa. He loves you more than anything. What you said to him out there, it hurt him, very badly. He might not have acted like it for your sake, but it cut him inside like a knife," Mai explained and Ursa began to cry.

"Oh, Mom!" Ursa cried as she fell into her mother's comforting arms. "I didn't mean it! I didn't want to hurt his feelings."

"I know, I know," Mai said comfortingly as she returned her daughter's embrace.

"What am I supposed to do now?" Ursa asked, as she wiped a tear from her eye.

"Go see him, nothing will make him feel better than that," Mai smiled.

"What am I supposed to say?" Ursa stifled on a sob.

"Just go see him, it'll flow when you get there," Mai advised and Ursa nodded. She walked into through the hallway, and entered her parents' room where her father was sitting on the bed, his shoulders slumped, staring at a painting of his daughter from a decade ago. Ursa quietly crooked open the door.

"…Dad?" Ursa mumbled and Zuko stood up, and smiled oh-so-slightly.

"Hi, sweetie," Zuko said softly and Ursa buried her face in her hands and started to weep in guilt. "Hey?" Zuko said tenderly as he placed his hand on her shoulder in concern.

"Dad…I-" Ursa began as she fell into her father's embrace, crying.

"What's this all about? Come on, now?" Zuko said as he patted her back in comfort.

"I'm so sorry," She cried and Zuko smiled a little sympathetically.

"No, I'm sorry," Zuko admitted, "you were right, you're growing up, and I just don't like it."

"I still shouldn't have ran off alone without telling anyone," Ursa confessed. "I'm so sorry, Dad, I was being such a brat, I didn't mean it, I was so mean and-"

"Shh, shhh, it's alright, it's okay," Zuko said, he was starting to choke up a little himself. _"So this is what Uncle must've felt like when I came begging for forgiveness all those years ago at her age. No wonder he started to cry with me, though Ursa's crime isn't nearly as terrible as what I did. I never understood how he forgave me so easily, it's all clear to me now."_ Zuko thought to himself as his daughter ceased weeping. Ursa wiped her eyes, and then she placed a soft kiss on the side of Zuko's cheek.

"I love you, Daddy," She whispered, Zuko smiled, he felt a single tear slide out of his one, good eye.

Zuko then returned,"I love you too, sweetheart."


End file.
